How to List Quality Assurance Skills on a Resume: Best Skills and Examples

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Why employers want to see quality assurance skills on your resume

Quality assurance (QA) is the last line of defense between a company’s product and the customer. It’s the job of any quality assurance worker to ensure the product provides the desired experience for the customer, and employers need to see you have the quality assurance resume skills to do that well. This article explains how to list quality assurance skills on a resume with examples and gives you a list of the best QA skills and how you can improve them.

How to list quality assurance skills on a resume

Your quality assurance skills need to show off the best of what you can offer to the position and how you stand out from the competition.

 Here’s how to list QA skills on your resume:

1. First, list quality assurance skills for technical proficiency

Begin by listing your relevant technical proficiencies. These will be the software programs used for various quality assurance duties. Employers want to see these first because they’re the most useful and specialized skills required for the job.

2. Then, list quality assurance skills for communication

Both written and verbal communication are essential when it comes to quality assurance. You must accurately and concisely describe any issues you encounter with the product to ensure the development team is aware of the specific problem. This is also where you would list your attention to detail to describe how your attentiveness will lead to effective communication.

3. Last, list quality assurance skills for time management

Working efficiently is the key to successful quality assurance. Given the time a company typically spends developing a product, testing it shouldn’t take up any more time than it has to. List your skills relevant to time management to show you can get the job done correctly and efficiently.

Best quality assurance skills to add to a resume

If you want your quality assurance resume skills to stand out, consider adding the skills that align with the job description and your own skills.

Here are the most important QA skills to include:

Technical programs

This skill or set of skills is designed to detail the relevant programs you have proficiency in as a quality assurance tester. Some of the most common include Agile and DevOps. While they’re virtually essential to include, it’s best to extend your knowledge a bit further when listing quality assurance resume skills.

Automation

Automating processes is essential for efficient quality assurance, and skill in automation demonstrates resourcefulness and technical proficiency. Skills in automation are designed to show you’re not only efficient but resourceful as well. Manual testing simply isn’t in the realm of possibility for some QA testing requirements, so automation may be a necessity for the specific position you’re applying for. Keep in mind automation, in general, is moving from a preferred skill to a required skill.

Written communication

Written communication is an essential skill for documenting your findings during the QA process. You must effectively express your findings to the people who need to hear them. This is the skill that not only showcases your ability to document problems, but it also shows how you can communicate effectively with other team members as well.

Software development life cycle (SDLC)

 The software development life cycle, or SDLC, is the process by which software gets developed. Understanding the SDLC increases the effectiveness of quality assurance efforts. When you have a greater understanding of this as a tester, you can better predict the occurrence of future problems and make your notes for quality accordingly. Put simply, it shows that you’ll produce reports with a high degree of accuracy and accountability. 

Analytical thinking

To understand potential quality issues with software, you’ll have to take an analytical approach to the problem. Analytical thinking helps quality assurance testers better identify and address problems. By showcasing your analytical thinking skills, you can ensure your employer you know how to examine products from multiple perspectives. That will, of course, allow you to test products regardless of the target audience for that product, making you more effective when tackling a wide variety of testing scenarios.

How to improve quality assurance skills

If you’re looking to improve your quality assurance resume skills before finalizing your applications, there are a few steps you can take to improve your skills.

Here are a few steps that can help you to improve your QA skills:

1. First, learn more testing programs

When you have a greater array of technical proficiencies to draw from, you’ll be in a better position to address potential problems with various products. This can go beyond software, as certain techniques can be beneficial as well.

2. Then, look into automation techniques

With the growing prominence of automation, employers are going to be more strict than ever before about time management. When you have extensive automation skills at your disposal, you’ll have multiple methods that allow you to test products and software at a fast rate that’s more competitive within the industry.

3. Next, practice your writing 

Just about every job involves writing to some degree, but quality assurance testers must master the art in terms of descriptions and being concise. You want to describe all the problems you found without overwhelming the development team with overly wordy paragraphs.

4. Finally, practice your observational skills

There are numerous brain tests you can try to help improve your analytical and observational skills. It’s even beneficial to train your memory, as that will make it easier to draw on previous findings to identify new potential problems with what you’re testing.